1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a denomination distinguishing system in a coin processing apparatus, in which coins of a plurality of denomination types, received in a bulk state, are sorted by each denomination type. Further, the present invention relates to a denomination distinguishing system in a coin processing apparatus, in which the timing for an operation of a receiving unit for receiving coins of a plurality of denomination types can be accurately controlled. Also, the present invention relates to a denomination distinguishing system for coins, wherein a receiving unit is operated in conjunction with a transport apparatus for transporting the coins.
2. Description of Related Art
The term “coin” used in the present specification includes currency coin, token, and medal, and may be in a circular shape or in a polygonal shape. In the past, a denomination distinguishing system for coin processing apparatus has been known, in which coins are moved along a predetermined route by pins mounted at appropriate pitch on a chain, and in the process to transport the coins along the transport route, counting of pulses is started when the coin passes through identifying means for identifying the denomination type. By operating a disengaging unit when the count value reaches a predetermined value, the coins are sorted to denomination types as appropriate and are held e.g., see Laid-Open Patent Application JP-A-11-328470 (FIG. 1; page 4)
According to the prior art as described above, the disengaging unit is operated according to a count value of pulses issued from a pulse generator. As a result, pulses may be erroneously counted due to noise or other causes. Because of the erroneous counting, the disengaging unit cannot be operated at the appropriate timing, and there has been a problem in that the coins of the appropriate denomination type cannot be classified at the appropriate position. To overcome this problem, it has been proposed to provide the denomination distinguishing unit immediately before the disengaging unit, and when the denomination type has been identified, the disengaging means is operated immediately after and the coins are sorted. However, this means that a sensor is required for each denomination type, leading to high cost, and thus cannot be adopted in a practical application.